Secret Evil Plan-300 Win Mag

[Broz]

In the .300 magnum, I'd swim against the tide and load the 220 Nosler Partition to about 2600-2700 fps. Then stay behind the shoulder, and forward of the hips.

Not a bad plan at all. Back in the day I shot the 338 / 250 partitions. They always did me well in a 340 when placed well.

It sounds like the OP may be thinking the new rifle is a little large for his general needs. Maybe a trade for the same BAR in 25-06 is in order? Would complement the .308 in his line up too. My 25-06 with a 110 Accubond sits in the back of the safe now. But the fact it is still in the safe means it earned it's place to stay.

Jeff

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

You can back her up a bit to start loads, but bigger cases have issues when underloaded, whether it be extremely light powder charge or to loght a bullet. I was playing with some 125 bt's in my 300 last year to burn 'em up and two out of three powders had partial case shoulder collapses-- not a good thing when you are close to top pressures and she's not sealing well.

You have another problem that hasn't been touched on either. You have an auto loader, so you'll likely have to stay with loads in the same pressure range as factory, which in a 300 win isn't farting along at 308 speeds. Keep your pressures to normal with auto loaders or feeding issues will likely occur.

 

[CHARLIEDUECE65]

I've used 300 ultra mag, 300 win mag, and 7 Rem mag on deer here in MN and never "blew" a deer up. A 300 Win Mag isn't that big of a round. Not sure what you're worried about. I know people who use bigger calibers than that for deer. Keep your shots off the shoulder or hind quarters and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[Nomosendero]

You can back her up a bit to start loads, but bigger cases have issues when underloaded, whether it be extremely light powder charge or to loght a bullet. I was playing with some 125 bt's in my 300 last year to burn 'em up and two out of three powders had partial case shoulder collapses-- not a good thing when you are close to top pressures and she's not sealing well.

You have another problem that hasn't been touched on either. You have an auto loader, so you'll likely have to stay with loads in the same pressure range as factory, which in a 300 win isn't farting along at 308 speeds. Keep your pressures to normal with auto loaders or feeding issues will likely occur.

Yea, just now reading this thread, and I was thinking no one addressed the fact that the 300WM BAR might not function with a " 308 velocity" load, then I read this post. I think that could be a problem.

I understand wanting to use a new rifle, I do that stuff too, but the Win 308 would be perfect for shorter range deer hunting.

But as others have said, if you "lung um", meat loss is a non-issue anyway, killed a bunch with bigger guns that way & it works just fine.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Steve

I hope you have not gotten the wrong impression of me, I did not, nor have I ever started a thread about the subject you mentioned, I do however know what you are referring to and that threads author should have taken a step back and thought about what he was saying before he said it. I don't go around telling war stories about battles I did not fight. I have seen that to many times and eventually your are going to run into someone who was there and there going to call BS, then all your credibility is shot.

The comment I made above, was in no way intended to start what you have implied, simply to make anyone who reads this thread aware that shot placement is key to meat damage and not what the op implied as "overkill". Not everyone is aware of this I know that.

My apologies.

Steve

 

[mke039]

Maybe a trade for the same BAR in 25-06 is in order? Would complement the .308 in his line up too. My 25-06 with a 110 Accubond sits in the back of the safe now. But the fact it is still in the safe means it earned it's place to stay.

Jeff

True!
I live in Massachusetts, and got the BAR cheap because nobody wants one here.
If it had been in .308 or 06 it would have sold faster and for more money.

I really like the .308 and have loaded hundreds of them, I would gladly trade the rifle for a BAR in .308

As far as the hazzards of reduced loads, Hogdon specifies their H4895 for this purpose. It is the only powder I know of that can safely do this (their published "60%" rule)

I was also wondering how the autoloader would work under reduced pressures.
I have never seen any feedback on this...hence the posted question

 

[jasent]

In my exp. 300wm likes a full case. Instead of loading down I'd use a smaller bullet. I normally shoot 185 Berger @3050. kicks hard but not too hard. I shot out my 243 so I got some 125gr sst's for my 300. They shoot great with much less recoil.@3350. I can't say how they'd do on deer but will be a little easier on the shoulder.

Ps
Ill be killing my deer this year with a 185 Berger. Didn't make a mess of my bear from 40 yards so I dout they'll mess a whitetail up too bad. We'll see.

 

[augnmike]

bout 8 yrs ago I started using my .300 wm on everything, deer, elk, and antelope. I use 180 grain bullets and have seen no meet loss ans certainly nothing "blowing up". I have taken 7 white tails, five antelope and an elk so far.

 

[mke039]

That sounds pretty good. Do you have a recommended bullet in that (or any) weight?

 

[Buttermilk]

To the original poster of this thread:

The experts on the reduced load using H4895 would be Hodgdon since they are the ones recommending it in the first place. A phone call to them should clear up any questions you might have including the gas pressure action cycling requirements.

They even have some info on their website that pertains to the reduced loadings.

 

[mke039]

Thanks,
I plan to call them when I get home. I will post my results here when I get to the range.
Thanks again

 

[valleyloader]

I agree with all who said use bullets that are less likely to "explode". The use of monolithic bullets such as Barnes TTSX for example will stay together under any velocities that you can achieve with a 300 win mag. The "blowing up" of a deer as it is described is caused when a jacketed bullet hits a target and fragments, this sends many small pieces of core and jacket throughout the target. I have been using barnes ttsx exclusively for short range hunting in southwest PA where deer hunting is often much like rabbit hunting. I have hit deer with a 300 win mag at close range (inside 50 yards) with a max charge of H4350 under a 150 grain ttsx with little more damage than I remember grandpa's 30-40 krag inflicting. I think unless recoil is the real concern behind reducing your loads, your best bet is just get different bullets. IMO

 

[Firecat]

It is possible. Speer has a reduced load for the 300win mag in their reloading manual. I would start there. That being said I will guess that a reduced load will not have the recoil to work the semi auto action of your BAR. This is not the end of the world but will mean that you have to cycle the action after each shot. This would be annoying enough for me not to worry about a reduced load.

 

[davkrat]

I've loaded the 60% reduced loads of H4895 in my .308 with 110 gr. VMax bullets. Averaged 1690 fps. Recoil was like shooting a .410 I would not hesitate to slip one behind the ribs of a deer under 100 yards. My 5 and 9 year-old can shoot one of Daddy's BIG guns with that load no problem. The bulkiness of the reduced load powders should increase the safety margin and avoid the chance of secondary explosions. If you're talking about a 100 yard and in stand hunting gun who cares about squeezing out sub MOA accuracy? If you can't keep it inside the ribs of a deer at short range with a rifle shooting 3" groups you shouldn't be hunting.

One of the Hodgdon manuals from a few years ago had a whole article on Youth and Reduced loads. That's the beauty of handloading you can tailor your loads to odd ball concepts like this. Makes perfect sense to me.

My full bore Varget load with the 110's goes 3,050 fps.